Plot

An aristocrat's daughter falls in love with a visiting archaeologist, but he holds a secret that could drive them apart.

The year is 1953. A visiting archaeologist called Varun Shrivastav comes to the village of Manikpur in West Bengal to excavate the temple grounds of the local Zamindar. With knowledge and experience beyond his young demeanour, Varun greatly impresses the Zamindar and his family. Especially Pakhi, the Zamindar's feisty and only daughter, who finds herself irrevocably drawn towards him. But Varun isn't all he seems on the surface. And as the simmering attraction between him and Pakhi leads to a tender and deep love, he is forced to choose between her and his past. Making his choice, Varun disappears. Pakhi struggles to move on with her life, determined to forget him and their relationship. Until one day, when he returns under the most extraordinary circumstances. Inspired from O. Henry's "The Last Leaf", Lootera is the uplifting story of two lovers. Of heartbreak, betrayal... and ultimate redemption.—Lootera Film

In the picturesque town of Manikpur (West Bengal) of 1953, the Zamindar Soumitra Roy Chaudhary (Barun Chanda) goes to watch a Chhau dance along with his daughter, Pakhi Roy Chaudhary (Sonakshi Sinha), an aspiring writer. After Pakhi has an asthma attack from the ensuing excitement, she is rushed home and is given medication. As she recuperates, her father comforts her and narrates the story of the invincible king whose soul resided inside a parrot, and then proceeds to tell her that she is the parrot within whom his life resides.

One day while learning to drive a car, Pakhi accidentally bumps into a motorcycle and mildly injures a handsome youth. While he is being treated, Pakhi gets drawn towards him. A few days later, the same youth introduces himself to the Zamindar as Varun Shrivastav (Ranveer Singh), an archaeologist who needs to study the land surrounding the temple owned by the Zamindar. Over the next few weeks, Varun charms the Zamindar and his daughter with his knowledge and persona, and is invited along with his assistant and friend, Devdas Mukherjee (Vikrant Massey), also known as Dev, to live at their expansive mansion.

Varun convinces the Zamindar to set up camp near the town temple which hosts 300-year-old gold idols of Hindu Gods. The Zamindar also provides resources for the dig. All of this is supervised by the Zamindar's accountant, who is suspicious of Varun.

Soon, love brews between Varun and Pakhi as they bond over art and literature. Pakhi confesses her aspirations of becoming an author, while Varun reveals his desire to paint a masterpiece. Their love soon culminates in a passionate affair. Meanwhile, an act passed by the Indian government debars the powers of Zamindars causing tension in the Chaudhary household. Zamindar is under stress as he does not have money to even maintain his estate. An Indian Govt treasury officer confiscates many artifacts from the household in the name of theft conducted by the East India Company. Zamindar opens up his woes to Varun & Varun advises him that he still has many artifacts of priceless value in his house, that international buyers will pay top dollar for. Varun arranges for his uncle to come & pose as the buyer for the artifacts.

As Varun's stay comes to an end, he proposes to Pakhi and preparations of their wedding begin thereafter. Varun tells the Zamindar that he has no family. Before the marriage, Varun's uncle, A. K. Bajpai (Arif Zakaria), who raised him, arrives and discourages Varun from marriage, stating that Varun will only give Pakhi grief because of the danger of what he actually does for a living, and that people like them are not meant to fall in love and have normal lives. Varun is conflicted but agrees and makes his choice. He and Dev escape that very night, along with all the valuables they stole from the landlord.

But on the wedding day, Varun is nowhere to be found, and it is discovered that the idols from the temple have been stolen and the currency notes from the purchase of the family's artifacts (arranged by Varun), turn out to be counterfeit. Turns out that the Indian Govt Revenue officer was also working with this gang.

A year later, Pakhi is living all alone in Dalhousie with her maid, Shyama (Divya Dutta) as her only company. Her father has passed away and she has still not recovered from her heartbreak. When a police Inspector Krishna Niranjan "K. N." Singh (Adil Hussain) asks her in helping him nab Varun, she refuses to do so. Soon after that, Varun and his friend turn up at Dalhousie for their next heist and coincidentally stay at a lodge on Pakhi's property. Things turn ugly when the police get wind of their whereabouts, and a chase ensues. Varun inadvertently shoots Dev and a constable fatally and is injured in the encounter. He removes the bullet and then goes to seek refuge in Pakhi's house. Pakhi and Shyama attempt to hand him over to the police, but he threatens them.

Although Pakhi does not turn him over to the police, she is nevertheless enraged and repels Varun's comforting advances and explanation. In a letter, she explains to Varun that she is dying of tuberculosis and will pass away the day the last leaf falls from the wilting tree outside the window. Meanwhile, Shyama leaves the house, promising Varun that he would not be reported to the police.

Varun plans his escape, but when his accomplice comes, he refuses to go and instead stays behind to take care of the sick Pakhi. He confesses to her that his real name is Atmanand Tripathi, and that he has regretted abandoning her since the day he escaped. Soon, Pakhi warms up to him, and her faith remains intact when each day she finds one last leaf remaining on the tree. In the end, seeing Pakhi's condition improving, Varun decides that it is time for him to leave, and he takes off, only to come face to face with a police blockade on the road, who proceed to shoot him fatally in encounter killing.

Meanwhile, Pakhi wakes up to find that Varun has disappeared, but the tree still has a leaf on it. She becomes suspicious and discovers that the leaf has been affixed to the tree by Varun. Every night, he would tie it on a branch of the tree so that she would not give up hope to live and it was Varun's masterpiece. Pakhi realizes the truth after she looks at the leaf closely and sees that it is been painted upon, and she smiles with tears in her eyes.